Council to launch £1million vehicle scrappage scheme

A council plans to launch a £1million vehicle scrappage scheme in September to help people who need to swap their high-polluting car for a sustainable alternative, but are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Merton council will offer a £1,000 grant per vehicle to help the poorest areas in the community that are not well connected by public transport, provided their car meets the Transport for London (TfL) scrappage criteria. The grant will also be available for carers.

According to Transport for London (TfL) more than 90 per cent of cars driving in outer London meet the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards. But for those that do not, financial support is needed.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched a city-wide scrappage scheme, and now Merton council is launching its own expanded support to help people in the borough who rely on cars to get around.

At the budget earlier this year, Merton council committed to investing £22million into providing support for residents, including a £2million cost-of-living fund.

Merton’s scrappage scheme will be open to people regardless of whether they have applied to the existing TfL scheme. Applications to the fund will be on a first-come,-first-served basis and take-up figures will be published online for people to check.

Councillor Ross Garrod, leader of Merton council, said: “Merton council’s scrappage scheme will provide additional help to the poorest in our community that are not well connected by public transport, during this cost-of-living crisis.

“We’re also determined to help our hard-working carers to continue the invaluable work they do.

 “We need to clean up the air we breathe, and part of the solution to that is moving away from using high-polluting vehicles.”

(Picture: Pixabay webandi)